Family Ties
by meburleson
Summary: It's just another day at work, til Annie sees someone she wants to avoid. When a family member Annie hasn't told anyone about reappears in her life, how will she be affected? Can she get away before he notices her? What happens when she has to explain her actions to Auggie? Slight changes made to each character's given timeline to make this alternate universe. I own nothing!
1. It's Not a National Secret

**Author's Note: Disclaimer-I do not own either show. Don't own any of the characters either.**

It was an atypical day for Annie Walker, today she was working at the Smithsonian. She had to keep up appearances. Her "real" job, as a covert CIA spy insisted that she have a cover job that she could claim she had whenever asked about her career. Of course, that meant she actually had to work that job from time to time. It was exhausting. She could be on a mission for several days or even weeks, and then come back and instead of getting a couple days off to rest, she could have to go to the museum to work. Her job there wasn't hard, just paper work or walking around speaking with colleagues about this piece of artwork or that artifact that "just came in". She had to make sure the Smithsonian employees believed she worked there. If anyone ever came looking for her there, she wanted to make sure no one said "Annie Walker? Name doesn't sound familiar." As it was, she was usually out of the office "on assignment" to acquire new items for the museum.

It was an atypical day for Annie Walker, today she was working at the Smithsonian. She had to keep up appearances. Her "real" job, as a covert CIA spy insisted that she have a cover job that she could claim she had whenever asked about her career. Of course, that meant she actually had to work that job from time to time. It was exhausting. She could be on a mission for several days or even weeks, and then come back and instead of getting a couple days off to rest, she could have to go to the museum to work. Her job there wasn't hard, just paper work or walking around speaking with colleagues about this piece of artwork or that artifact that "just came in". She had to make sure the Smithsonian employees believed she worked there. If anyone ever came looking for her there, she wanted to make sure no one said "Annie Walker? Name doesn't sound familiar." As it was, she was usually out of the office "on assignment" to acquire new items for the museum.

Working in acquisitions for the Smithsonian was indeed an ingenious idea and one that Annie found to be enjoyable, but it was still exhausting. Today, for example, she had been working 9 days straight. She had spent a week in Italy on assignment trying to take down a terrorist organization bent on trying to take down the transportation system in Washington, DC. Their headquarters was in Naples. It had been a lot of work following the suspected members of the group, photographing them, then sending all information she could to Auggie, who would task himself with identifying them and learning everything he could about them. Upon arriving back, she was informed she needed to spend some time at the Smithsonian, at least three days. Today was day two.

At least the Smithsonian wasn't too terribly far from headquarters. That meant that Auggie could take an extra-long lunch and join her for lunch. He didn't mind visiting the Smithsonian while she was working. Before he went blind, Auggie used to love visiting the many museums, monuments, and memorials that Washington, DC had to offer. Now his love of the sights had been renewed since Annie came into his life. Hearing her talk about all of the artifacts and artwork in the museum brought them to life for Auggie.

They had ate their lunch quickly and were walking around a familiar exhibit of the Air &amp; Space museum chatting about their weekend plans when suddenly Annie stopped, side stepped and unexpectedly turned into Auggie causing him to almost trip over her and fall forward. Annie's quick turn and change in both momentum and course in the opposite direction prevented him from falling.

"What the—Annie? You know you can't make sudden turns without telling me." Auggie said both concerned and slightly annoyed as she literally dragged him along with her. Annie had not done anything like that since, well, ever. She had been a great guide for him from the first moment they met, only forgetting once that she needed to guide him on her first mission. "Are you avoiding someone?" he asked as he noticed her pace quickening.

When she didn't answer him, Auggie just followed, stumbling a couple times (which also never happened when Annie lead him).

Finally, Annie stopped walking and put his hand on the back of a chair. He took a seat and waited patiently for Annie to speak.

"I'm sorry Auggie." Was all she said. He had expected more of an explanation than an apology.

"It's okay, Annie, as long as you have a good reason for your actions. Care to explain why you suddenly became incapable of guiding me with your usual grace?"

"I saw someone. Someone I have not seen in years and do not care to see now."

"Okay? And that would be?"

Annie paused. She really did not want to get into this. It was something she never mentioned to anyone. She never talked about, not even with Danielle. However, it was Auggie, she could trust him with anything and she did kinda owe him for the poor judgment a couple minutes prior. She really should have warned him of her sudden movements and quickened pace. She always prided herself on being one of the few people Auggie would let guide him unassisted by his cane.

"Ummm, well. It was my brother." Annie said at almost a whisper as if it were a national secret.

"Wait, what!? You have a what? Annie, you never told me you have a brother. Is he a secret?"

"Well, it's not a secret per say. He is my twin brother. We didn't get along well. He is a genius and mom always preferred him to Danielle or I. He always needed special attention. We haven't seen or spoken to one another since mom and dad divorced. Danielle and I went with dad and he stayed with mom. They lived in Las Vegas last time I saw them."

"Wow Annie! How did I not know this? I've looked at your file a hundred times, but never saw any mention of a brother, let alone a twin. What is his name?"

"Well, you would have known about him if you looked at my birth certificate. It states that I was born a twin. The CIA never questioned me about it and I never volunteered the information. I get a Christmas card with his picture in it every year from mom, who insists on writing and telling me _all_ about him. That is the only way I knew what he looked like now. But there he was, looking at the space ships. I should have known I couldn't avoid him forever. His name is Spencer Reid." Annie was highly annoyed that he kept questioning her when she clearly did not want to talk about this, but he had not made a scene when he could have as he stumbled behind her during her get away.

"Wait, why is his last name different than yours?" Auggie asked very curious about this unexpected topic of discussion.

"Our mom is a paranoid schizophrenic; she insisted they changed their names when the divorce happened. She was afraid our dad would try to take Spencer away from her. Just another reason we grew apart. But Auggie, I really don't want to talk about this right now. I am exhausted and still have a day and half more work before I can relax. I promise we can continue this conversation another time." Annie answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world to change your last name just to avoid your ex-husband. More questions arose in his mind that he would for sure ask later.

"Okay, Annie, but I'm going to hold you to that promise. Now point me in the direction of the door and I will head back to work myself." Auggie was not quite ready to trust Annie with leading him. She still sounded preoccupied by whatever was going on with this brother of hers.

"When you stand up, take five paces to the door. Afterwards, turn left and the exit will be about forty paces ahead. I'm sorry for treating you badly earlier. I know you trust me to guide you. I hope you can forgive me."

"Walker, consider it forgiven, but not forgotten. Just don't make a habit of it and I expect to hear more about this Spencer Reid in the next couple days." At that he headed towards the door sweeping his cane from side to side to make sure his path was clear. Auggie could not wait to hear more about this brother of hers. He knew Annie was great, he could only imagine what a twin brother might be like. So many questions arose as he considered all the possibilities that this Spencer Reid created.

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**Author's Note: What do you think? Should I write more? If I do, the next chapter will be Spencer's POV. I'm not exactly sure where this story is going yet, but I think it has a lot of potential. Feel free to point out any grammar/spelling errors, I do my best to catch them, but its hard when its your own writing (well, at least it is for me, maybe others don't have that problem). Also, if you have any suggestions, please feel free to give them, I would love to hear from anyone and everyone!**

**I know I have another story I'm working on and probably have people wanting more of (although, I'm not sure if theres much interest or not due to lack of reviews). This one popped in my head one day and I decided it had to come out before I could write more of "Twist in Fate". Another chapter will be added to "Twist in Fate" no later than Sunday. Maybe even more than one chapter.**


	2. Does Pretty Boy have a Crush?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

**Please enjoy and review!**

The case was finally over. The trip to Texas had been a long one and the whole team was glad it was over. The serial killer was finally caught, but not before he killed ten people in an attempt to bring back his father with what he believed to be blood magic. Now the agents were slowly trickling out of the office to head to their respective homes.

Spencer Reid was sitting at his desk waiting for Morgan to pass by. He was hoping he could finally convince his best friend to come with him to a museum. Derek Morgan always seemed to have something else to do every time he asked. Reid wasn't sure if he really did have other plans or if he just didn't want to come with him, but that didn't cause Reid to give up on his mission.

He loved perusing any museum, but what he enjoyed more was sharing his love of history with other people. He frequently took his coworkers to various museums. For him, it was about the sharing of knowledge, a past time he rarely got to revel in as a kid. No one wanted to spend time with the know it all little kid several grades ahead of those his own age. But now, his knowledge was a tool used to find serial killers by the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI.

Today, he had finally convinced Morgan to let him take him to the Smithsonian. He had been asking him for years and for once, Derek didn't have "other plans". They had just gotten back from a case when he asked him.

"Hey Morgan. Wait up." He jogged after Derek as he approached the elevator at the office.

"What's up, Pretty Boy?" Morgan replied in his usual manner.

"You know, "pretty" is a term to describe that which one thinks is beautiful. Its subjective use has had a variety of meanings throughout history. Derek, am I to assume you find me beautiful?" Reid stated with a smile that caused Morgan to blush slightly. "I was hoping you'd accompany me to the Smithsonian tomorrow. It's not the weekend, so I figured it would be less likely that you had previous plans." Reid added before Derek could respond to his teasing. They both got into the elevator and headed to the parking garage to head home.

"Well, it just so happens I don't have any plans. There's nothing I'd rather do kid."

"I know you like to sleep in on your days off, but I thought, if we started our day at like 11am you'd be willing to hang out with me? Wait, did you just say you didn't have plans? Is that a yes?"

Morgan chuckles at Reid's obvious surprise. "Don't be so surprised Kid. It's a plan. I'll meet you there. Text me the deets." Morgan replied as he got off the elevator to head to his car.

The next morning, Reid got up at his usual time, 7am and dressed in black slacks, a white long sleeve shirt and a green vest. Reid knew that wearing these clothes would get a comment from Morgan, but he didn't care. Despite what everyone thought, this was how he dressed, whether he was at work or not. He didn't really know what it was to dress to relax. After eating a breakfast of poached eggs, sausage, and toast, Reid decided to walk to the nearby bookstore to see if they had any new books that might interest him. Even though he could read the books in just a few short minutes each, he always bought the books he was interested in and sometimes even ones he wasn't. He wanted to contribute to the continued support of physical books in this new digital age. Since the invention of electronic readers, Reid had noticed a significant drop in the purchase of books and it disturbed him.

After buying five books from the bookstore, two about American Commercialism, one about Immigration Statistics, and the other two about the histories of Scottish Royalty, Reid walked back to his apartment to get everything ready to meet Derek.

Driving into Washington, D.C. in the middle of the day on a Thursday felt strange. Reid was used to making this trip either insanely early in the morning or late in the evening if the team was called back to the office after going home. He arrived at the Smithsonian about ten minutes early. If he knew Morgan as well as he thought he did, he wouldn't be early.

Reid had a plan for making sure Morgan enjoyed himself today. He knew the Smithsonian's museums inventory as well as he knew his own apartment, and probably a lot better than the employees that worked there. Reid planned on showing Morgan artifacts and exhibits that would be of high interest to him. He wanted to start at the Air and Space Museum and then head to the Natural History Museum. Of course, there were other museums that were part of the Smithsonian Institution of Museums, but these were the two he thought Morgan would find most enjoyable.

As Reid was waiting outside the Air and Space Museum he began to think Morgan was going to be a no show. He had texted him this morning to meet him at the Air and Space Museum, but he had not responded. Perhaps he had overslept? Just as he was contemplating calling him to see if he was still coming, he finally saw Morgan walking toward the entrance.

"Hey kid, let the knowledge partaking begin." Derek said clasping his right hand on Reid's left shoulder as they walked together to the museum's entrance.

Together, they walked around the Air and Space Museum for the next hour. Morgan was interested in the exhibits significantly more than Reid had anticipated. Reid was pleased to be able to share his knowledge of the exhibits and their history with Morgan. He was also surprised when Morgan added some of his own knowledge of the artifacts as they walked around.

Reid was excited when they finally arrived at the exhibit he was most excited to see. It was new to the museum only recently and not even Reid had seen it yet. The _Discovery_ shuttle had only arrived a month earlier at the Museum.

"Look Derek, it's the _Discovery_ space shuttle." Reid said excitedly as they approached the 165,000 pound space shuttle. "Did you know that Discovery spent exactly one year over 39 missions in obit and logged 148,221,675 miles on its odometer?"

"Yeah Genius, I did know, well most of that. I've actually always been interested space travel. It was always a way to escape what was going on in my life as a kid."

Reid smiled as they continued to walk around the space shuttle. He was grateful for coming when they did. The museum was surprisingly slow right now. Usually the museum was full of school aged kids at this time, perhaps it was a holiday from school or something that prevented a lot of field trips. There were only a few people walking around.

As Reid looked around the exhibit, he was surprised to see someone he thought he knew. Of course, he couldn't be sure, but based on aging statistics he thought there was a good chance it was her. As Reid studied her, unfortunately the concentration didn't go unnoticed by his friend. Not only did Derek notice Reid's distraction, he also noticed the cause of the distraction.

"Well, what do we have here? Who's the lovely lady? Does Pretty Boy have himself a crush?" Morgan asked playfully.

"Ew, gross, no, nothing like that." Reid stated frankly as he went to looking at the space shuttle again. "Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot an American spacecraft."

"Whoa, whoa whoa, hold up Kid. You're not getting away that easy." Morgan stated putting his hand on Reid's chest to stop him. "Who is the girl? And why did she just run away at the sight of you?" Reid had not noticed this since he had turned around before she saw him, but it didn't surprise him that she would run away.

"Just drop it Derek. It's not something I like talking about. Plus, it probably wasn't her." Reid said side stepping around Morgan.

Grabbing Reid's arm to stop him, "Look Kid, if you really don't want to talk about it, that's cool, but you know I can find out what you're hiding. Whatever just threw Dr. Spencer Reid off enough to make him loose all concentration has to be a big deal. So either spill or one phone call to Garcia will do it for me."

"Morgan, its nothing. I thought I saw my sister. I can't be sure though. I haven't seen her since my dad left when I was seven." Reid began to fidget with the Museum directory he had been carrying around, not that he had needed it to know where things were in his favorite Smithsonian Museum.

"How old was she then?" suddenly extremely interested in what Reid had to say.

"Seven" Reid said biting his lip. He really did not want to be having this conversation.

"Wait. So she's your _twin_ sister?" Morgan said surprised. He had known Reid for a long time and Reid had never mentioned having a sister.

"Yeah." Reid stated nondescriptly.

Morgan stood for a few minutes just looking at Reid. "So you have a sister you never told me about?"

"Well, technically, I have two sisters I never told you about. For all I know I have nieces and nephews I don't know about too. I'm not close to either of my sisters. When my parents got a divorce, they went with my dad and I stayed with mom. Mom changed our name to keep my dad from finding us. She always thought my dad would try to take me away from her. I think my mom knows where Annie and Danielle live, but I've never asked her about them. That women I just saw looks like she could have been my sister. But I have no way to confirm that."

"Wow. Reid, that's intense. Why haven't you ever told me that?"

"It never came up. Can we just go back to enjoying the museum? I don't even know that was her. We have a lot more artifacts to see and we should probably grab lunch soon too."

"Sure Kid, but you know this discussion isn't over, right?" Morgan teased.

"Yeah, I know. Later. For now, let's head to the Natural History Museum. We can stop by the vending machines for a sandwich on the way." Reid said eager to leave so the mention of his family could be forgotten for the day.

He didn't think Morgan would let this go, but he had to hope his museum buddy would at least let it go for now so they could continue their day as planned. One thing was certain; Annie Walker had once again managed to squirm her way back into his life, despite his attempts to prevent her from ruining his life again.

**Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to update. Life has been in the way a lot lately. I do not know yet where the story will go next. I know Annie/Reid will meet in the next chapter, I just have not decided yet how/why that will happen. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Thank you for any reviews, follows, and favorites!**


	3. Missed Connections

**Author's Note: I'm SO Sorry that is has been so long since I updated. Thank you for all the follows and favorites. Also, a big thanks you to noobz40 for reviewing! It means more to me than I can express. Enjoy! **

Chapter 3

Missed Connections

Of course, it was Annie's luck that as soon as she was supposed to get a few days off-_something_ would happen that prevented it. Her three days were finally up at the Smithsonian and the next morning, she was awakened to Auggie's voice.

"Morning Walker!" He began in his usual cheery way.

But before he could say anything else, she said "Auggie, you better have a damn good reason for calling me at-" she took a moment to look at the clock beside her bed "Oh God-6:45 in the morning on my day off."

"Well, Walker, as it so happens, we have a case that requires all hands on deck. Joan needs you here. I knew you wouldn't be too happy about being called, so I told Joan I would make the call. No offence Annie, but you're not much of a morning person."

"My day off, Auggie." Was all she said.

"I know Walker, but this one is important. I don't even know much yet, but it seems big. Really big. You know I wouldn't call you in if there was any other option."

"Okay, give me thirty minutes."

"You've got twenty." He said, but added "This isn't me negotiating, Joan wants you here now. So I'm being generous."

"Okay, see you soon." She said as she got out of bed, headed to take a quick shower and got ready. _Auggie better have coffee there when I arrive_ she thought to herself.

It wasn't often that Annie was sent somewhere in the United States to work. Usually her missions were overseas. This mission was very "hush hush". The files were incomplete and still being compiled as she set off on yet another plane. The word was that there was a serial killer picking off CIA assets one by one, but as of yet there were no leads as to who it was or how they were getting their information. The assets were not connected to one another in any specific way. Different people were their handlers. They were even in different parts of the country.

Plane rides used to excite Annie Walker when she was younger. For her then, it meant they were going somewhere unaffiliated with the Army. Vacations, family reunions, and visits with her mom meant plane rides with Danielle and her father. However, now as frequently as she rode them, it was just an annoyance to get past-like a hurdle a track and field athlete has to jump to get to the finish line.

Thinking about her mom immediately brought Annie back to when she saw Spencer at the Smithsonian two days earlier. She had visited her mom many times after the divorce, but her mom had never brought Spencer with her. Annie now knew that was because her mom was a paranoid schizophrenic who was in constant fear of someone taking her genius son from her. Seeing Spencer had caused Annie to remember all of the times her mother had compared her to Spencer, spoke only about Spencer on their visits, and made Danielle and Annie both feel inferior to their brother. They had both decided when they were 15 and 12 that they didn't want to visit their mom anymore. Each had promised to write her every month and accept the letters that she sent back. Annie had stopped writing when she was in college, but she always let her know where she was living so that she could at least send letters to her. Annie thought that was the least she could do.

On the plane she got stuck in a middle seat between a talkative grandma and a grumpy teenager. Of course, Annie had forgotten to bring headphone with her-again. She could ask the flight attendant for some, but it always gave her the hibby jibbies to use headphones that who know how many people had used before her. She really needed to convince Auggie to pull some strings to get her bumped to First Class at least a few times a year.

According to the files she did have, the last two victims were located in Texas, so that was where Annie was heading. Auggie promised to keep her updated as more information came in for her. She was supposed to meet some FBI agents when she arrived. Apparently Joan was being forced to bring them in on the case since they had been unable to figure anything out on their own. Annie was using her job as a Smithsonian employee as she travelled to Huston, Texas. Annie was the handler for three of the eight victims so far. She knew each of the three assets through her Smithsonian NOC, so it was the perfect cover.

Once the plane finally landed, she knew she was supposed to meet some FBI agent, then they would take her to their headquarters base. Apparently the team was set up in the Houston FBI headquarters. Annie was surprised to learn that the FBI team they had called upon to help them was from DC.

As she got off the plane with her carry on and went to meet the FBI agent, as she reached the baggage area where she was supposed to meet the person, she immediately saw a tall, bald man holding a card with her name on it. As she went to meet the man he said "Annie Walker I presume?"

"Yes." She replied to the man. He looked familiar to her, but he couldn't quite place where she knew him from.

"I'm Agent Derek Morgan, do you have a bag to pick up?" He too thought he knew this woman. She looked like someone he had known recently, but he also had trouble placing where he might know her from.

"No, I only have my carry on." Annie answered in her most confident voice. She had to remember that she was a Smithsonian employee right now. "The Smithsonian tells me I need to help you identify some potential murder victim. I'm here to help in any way I can."

_Wow, a woman that doesn't pack a lot for a trip? I didn't know that was possible._ Morgan thought to himself before responding to in inquiry. "Yes ma'am. One victim was found three days ago, another found yesterday. We're sorry to have to bring you in like this, but both victims have your card in their wallet and we have not been able to get in touch with family members yet."

As they got into his car, Annie was nervous. She was not used to working with people that she didn't already know a lot about. She knew nothing of this Derek Morgan. As she got into the car, she sent Auggie a text to see what he could dig up on the man.

"So, right now we're going to the Houston medical center where their bodies are being held. There you will see if the men are who we think they are. From there, we will go to the Houston FBI headquarters. We need to gather as much information as we can on these men. They were tortured pretty badly before they were killed. I hope they will be recognizable to you."

Annie took a deep breath. It was not often that she had to stop and actually see people dead. Sure she'd been on the other end of the weapon a few times doing the killing, but the thought of identifying a person at a morgue was slightly unnerving to Annie. Of course, she had been to a morgue before, her first day at the CIA had found her at one, but this seemed different.

Arriving at the medical center, they easily found the medical examiner's office, signed in, and waited to be called back. Once in the room, Annie quickly identified both men correctly as the men she knew as art dealers. Of course, for her they were also important assets who had been giving her information about weapons deals going down in various other countries. Both men had once been associated with the Russian mob and were now giving Annie information about plans they were making against US territories.

After leaving the medical examiner's office, Morgan asked Annie, "Are you okay? I know this can be hard to do."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Ya know, just a little shaken, but I'll be fine. I've seen people dead before, but not like that. Usually they are in a casket as I'm saying my final good byes. Let's just get to where we need to go so I can get home and put this all behind me."

They rode the rest of the trip in silence with the radio playing softly in the background. As they arrived at the Houston FBI headquarters Annie's phone rang.

"Boyfriend?" Morgan asked skeptically as they got out of the car.

"Yeah, can I just take it a minute?"

"Yeah, but hurry, I'll wait over there." He says pointing a few feet away.

"Hey sweetheart" she answers into the phone, bringing an instant smile to Auggie's face despite knowing that it's just a cover for ears that she's telling him are nearby.

"Well, hey yourself sweetheart, I take it you can't talk freely?"

"I miss you too, but I'm going to be here at least a couple more days. Did you find the dessert I left in the fridge for you?"

"Yes, I found what you were looking for. Derek Morgan has been with the Behavioral Analysis Unit for 10 years. He is originally from Chicago, Illinois. Father was a cop who died when he was 10. He has two older sisters. He has a black belt in judo. He worked in the Chicago police department before joining the FBI. He has experience on bomb squad. His best friend is Dr. Spencer Reid-wait! Isn't that your brother's name?"

Suddenly Annie's hand went numb around her phone as she remembered where she knew Derek from. He had been with Spencer that day at the Smithsonian.

"Ummm, yeah. Well, I've got to go. The FBI agent is waiting for me. I promise to call you when I'm done." Annie said trying to not miss a beat.

She hangs up the phone and walks over to where Derek is standing. Of course, he noticed how off the whole conversation was. Her body language was not typical for someone talking to a significant other. Her speech and voice patterns suggested someone trying to hide something.

What Annie did not know was that a certain tech analysis, named Penelope Garcia, was currently in the process on pulling her phone, travel, and personal information as they walked into the building. Auggie would have a lot of blocking to do as he met his match. He needed this person to only find information about the Annie Walker that worked at the Smithsonian. NOT the Annie Walker that was a CIA spy. As he worked feverishly hiding all information that was not pertinent to her job as a Smithsonian acquisitions employee he briefly thought about Annie and very real possibility that she was walking into a building where her twin brother was.

As Annie walks behind Morgan into the FBI headquarters, she looks around cautiously. She is relieved when she doesn't see any sign of Spencer.

"We're going to have you wait here. Someone will be in shortly to take a statement from you about how you knew these men, what you know about them, and if you could somehow yourself be in danger."

"I don't know how much help I can be, but I will do my best." She said sweetly.

Morgan left the room and went back to meet up with the rest of the team.

"Did she identify the victims?" Hotch asked as Morgan entered the conference room they were all in.

"Yes, but she's hiding something. I don't know what yet. She took a phone call on the way in. She claimed it was a boyfriend, but well, if it is, I don't want to be him. Her body language did not indicate that she was into him at all. There was nothing romantic about her tone of voice either, despite her saying things like "Hey sweetheart" and "I miss you too". Garcia is pulling information on her now. I think I'm gonna take Reid in with me when I interview her. He seems to be better with these museum types than I am."

Reid beamed beside him, "Well, the Smithsonian does contain the largest collection of art and science specimens in the United States, it houses 137 million artifacts. In fact, at any given point there is only about 2% of their collection on display. I think we will have a lot to talk about."

"Whatever, Pretty Boy. I just need you to get her to open up about her involvement with our victims. We need to make sure she won't be a victim next."

The team spoke for a few more minutes about possible victim connections, kill patterns, and statistical probability of when the next kill might occur before Morgan and Reid excused themselves to go talk with Annie.

As Reid lead the two going into the room where Annie was sitting, he froze when he opened the door and saw her, causing Morgan to run into him. "Reid, what's up?"

Reid looked down at the file in his hand and made the connection he had somehow missed before.

Before either of them could say or do anything, Annie spoke "Hello little brother."

Reid turned on his heel and walked back the way he had just came from, shaking his head as he almost jogged down the hallway. Morgan just stood shocked from what had just transpired. So Annie Walker was _the_ Annie Reid had spoken of a few days ago at the Smithsonian. How could he have missed that connection?

**Author's Note: Please review. I can't promise when I will update more, but I promise, this is not the end.**


	4. Make the Best of It

**Author's Note: I apologize for going three months without updating this story. I promise not to let _any_ of my stories go that long again. Please enjoy and review with your likes, dislikes and thoughts for the next chapter.**

Chapter 4

"Make the Best of It"

"Pretty boy. Why didn't you tell me _this_ Annie is your sister?" Morgan asked Reid as he followed him down the hallway.

"Morgan, I didn't make the connection before. You're going to have to do the interview without me." Reid answered him without looking at him. He knew if he met Morgan's eyes that he would know just how upset he really was.

"Look kid, I don't know what going on between you two, but if you don't want the whole team in your business, you might want to suck it up and get in there." Morgan told him bluntly.

Reid sighed, closed his eyes and brought his hands up to his face. He knew Morgan was completely correct. He did not want the whole team asking him about Annie. If he refused to do this interview, they would know something was up.

Slowly, he composed himself and prepared for the interview. _"All work. Just business."_ he told himself.

Walking back to the interview room with Morgan, he took a deep breath before entering.

"Miss Walker, I am Dr. Spencer Reid. My colleague, Agent Derek Morgan, and I have some questions for you. How do you know the victims?" Reid started, showing Annie pictures of each victim.

"Well, _Dr.__Spencer Reid_, they were both art historians that I worked with for the Smithsonian. I've met with them both a couple times each the past few months about an exhibit I was working on." Annie said eyeing Spencer. There was no doubt in her mind now; she _had_ seen him just the other day at the Smithsonian.

"When was the last time you had contact with them?" Morgan asked politely. This girl didn't seem too bad to him and he could definitely see similarities between the two of them.

"This one"-indicating the man the team had identified as Joshua Melbrook, "I saw about a month ago and this man"-pointing to the other picture, which they identified as Matthew Hosteen "I met him just over two weeks ago. I met both of them in DC." She answered with as much detail as she thought met the question, but gave nothing else.

"What kind of exhibit were you working on?" Spencer asked remaining professional.

"It was a Native American exhibit." Annie stated, then added, seemingly just for Spencer's benefit. "The Smithsonian was updating theirs. As I'm sure you're well aware, it was a bit outdated."

"What did these men know about Native Americas?" Derek asked.

"One of the men is a descendant of the Navajo Indians that were native to New Mexico. The other man was a history professor before he retired. He had written several books on Native Americas. I didn't know the men all that well. I was just using them in my research the last month or so." Annie answered cordially. She wasn't happy about seeing Spencer any more than he seemed to be to see her, but she was not messing this up for the CIA because of a little sibling drama.

"Does the Smithsonian have you travelling for them a lot?" Spencer asked still remaining extremely professional. But inwardly, he was fuming. Annie was the last person in the world he wanted to see. His father, Annie, and Danielle had all left him-left him to deal with their mother alone. His childhood had been one of few "normal" things because of they had left. He had had to endure his mother's obsessing over him and his genius intellect. Of course, it made him the man he was today, but there were times he was resentful at never experiencing normal things. But right now he knew he just had to get through this interview and then it would be done.

"Yes. I work for acquisitions. So it is my job to acquire the information, artifacts, and research the Smithsonian needs for its exhibits. I'm sent around the world to do so." Annie said simply. She wasn't a bit worried about these men suspecting this was anything but the truth. She understood they were the best at their job, but she was also the best at hers. If she could withstand beatings, threats, torture and remain undercover, she could certainly do the same for these FBI agents. Especially since one of them was her little brother, who was subconsciously shooting daggers at her through the whole interview. She could tell he just wanted to be done with this.

"These men were killed for something they knew. They were tortured for days before dying slow deaths. You and the Smithsonian are the only connections we have found between the two men. There are similar deaths in surrounding states, but they have no connection to you or the Smithsonian that we know of. Do you have any idea what information they might have been tortured for?" Morgan asked.

"I haven't a clue. Like I said, we only talked about Native Americans." Annie replied truthfully. She really wasn't sure why these men were being killed or how their killers were getting their information. But her job right now was to use the FBI to find out as much as she could. The problem was, they didn't know anything more than the CIA already knew.

"Okay, Miss Walker. That seems to be all we have for you right now. But could you stay in town for a couple days, just in case we have any additional questions?" Morgan told her hoping to cool the tension in the room.

"No problem. I'll be at the Hotel Sorella until Friday." Annie was secretly glad she now had an excuse to just stay put and not having to go back to DC right away. A couple days lounging by the pool with no one to follow, track down, or meet sounded like heaven to her right now.

As her brother and the other agent left, Annie sighed. What a pickle she was in now. Did they actually suspect she had something to do with these men's deaths? Why were CIA assets being killed off one by one and how could they all possibly be connected? She needed to touch base with Auggie as soon as she got to her hotel. She knew he would be interested to know who her interrogator just was. Now she needed to decide if she would tell him or not.

Out in the hallway, Spencer took a deep breath and leaned against the wall just outside of the room he'd just left. _What am I doing?_ He thought to himself. _I'm letting my parent's divorce dictate how I treat a sibling that I have not seen for years. It's not Annie's fault our dad took her and Danielle to live who knows where when he left mom. Maybe Annie isn't so bad?_

In that split decision, he decided to go back into the room where Annie still was.

As she started to leave the room, much to her surprise, Spencer came back.

"Oh, hey." He said, not expecting her to be at the door when he came back in. "We should catch up while you're in town."

"What? Why the change in attitude? You were just shooting daggers at me with your eyes and now you want to 'catch up'?" Annie asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I do. If you don't want to, we don't have to, I just figure why not make the best of this opportunity." Reid replied surprisingly calm.

"Okay, let's meet tonight. 8pm at The Capital Grille. I hear it has amazing steaks and seafood."

"I'll see you then." Reid said.

As she walked out of the FBI building, she called for a cab. She was still stunned at what had transpired. Reid wanted to see her, speak with her, and "catch up"? She was glad he did, but she suspected an ulterior motive.

After putting her bags into the trunk of the cab, she gets into the back and gives the driver the name of her hotel.

Once she arrived at the hotel, she paid the driver and go out of the car. Once all her bags were out of the cab, it sped away. As she walked toward the entrance of the hotel, a man approached her.

"Excuse me miss, my wife is not feeling well, I wonder if you would help me get her to my car." Annie looked around and saw a very pregnant looking women standing near the corner of the building leaning over slightly.

"Sure, I'll be happy to help." Annie said as she watched the man grab what she assumed was their luggage. Leaving her own bags near the entrance to the hotel, she told the doorman that she would be right back.

Annie put her arm around the young woman's torso as they began slowly walking toward the van the man went to. Once at the small van he led them to, Annie helped the woman into the backseat so that she could be more comfortable. As Annie starts backing out of the van, she realized she was being pushed back into the van with a cloth over her mouth. As she tried to fight off her attacker, she began to feel her body grow weaker as the effects of the chemicals on the cloth lulled her into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note: Just like you'd clap or boo for the concert you just sat through, please review my writing as you read it. I'm not above saying, I really do NEED to hear from you. Each review is like a piece of chocolate rewarded to me for my hard work. Do you think I deserve that reward? Your reviews keep me writing. Keep me _wanting _to write_._**


	5. She Stood me up

Chapter 5

"She Stood me up"

As Annie slowly regained consciousness and realized she was in trouble immediately. She was blindfolded, gagged, and her arms and legs were bound. Worst of all, she wasn't wearing the clothes she had been wearing; in fact, she wasn't wearing any clothes at all, only her underwear. She couldn't tell where she was, only that the ground was cold and damp against her bare skin. She wasn't positive, but she felt like she was probably alone at the moment. As she listened carefully the only thing she could hear was dripping water.

As she tried to sit up and straighten out, she realized she couldn't. Thinking that perhaps if she could see, she could find an escape, she tried to remove the blindfold covering her eyes. As she did so she found that her eyes were being covered with duct tape wound around her head thickly. Finding the same dense tape over her mouth and around her head, _that's gonna hurt when it comes off_ Annie thought to herself. She moved her hands around feeling for anything that might tell her where she was. She pushed against the walls, searched for a door or opening, and discovered that it almost felt like she was in a closet or box, a very thick box that she couldn't break out of. She tried hitting the ceiling above with her bound hands and kicking out her legs, but nothing helped. She tried everything she could think of to try to escape.

As she lay there helplessly, she decided to go over the facts. Someone had kidnapped and drugged her. She was now in some sort of small room or box. She was bound, gagged, and blindfolded. To her knowledge there was no one around to hear her attempts at escape. She curled up into a fetal position in the middle of the space, hoping that if she made herself small it would allow her to forget the tight confined space she was actually in.

* * *

Elsewhere, Reid sat at a table waiting for Annie. He had been waiting for twenty minutes already.

Growing frustrated with the situation, he called Garcia.

"Yes my little genius. What can I do for you this evening?" Garcia answered on the first ring as usual.

"Garcia, I know you're not at work right now, but can you find out what room Annie Walker is in at the Sorella?"

"Sure thing, why do you want to know?"

"Just wanting to confirm she's where she said she would be, just in case we need her again." He lied smoothly.

"She's registered for room 526, but she never showed up to check in." Garcia told him.

"Damn it. I should have known. Garcia, can you track her phone and tell me if she's left the state?"

"Sure thing, do you suspect her of being the killer?" Garcia asked excitedly hoping this case could be over and her team could come home.

"Nope, I just think she lied to us." Reid said trying to hide his anger.

"Well, I can tell you she didn't leave the state, but this is weird. She's still in Houston. Her cell shows she's in a warehouse off of Justice Park Drive, maybe a few miles from the FBI headquarters."

"Why would she be at a warehouse?" Reid spoke aloud not talking to anyone in particular. Then asked Garcia, "Can you get me the address?"

"Sure thing. What are you thinking Reid?" Garcia asked interrupting his thoughts.

"Garcia, can you bring up video footage from just outside the FBI building from around the time Annie left this afternoon and maybe at her hotel too?" he wasn't sure he could guess any other places she might have gone.

"Can I?" Garcia teased.

"Will you please?" Reid said smiling. Garcia could always make him smile, even when he was the most stressed.

"Sure thing, it'll take me a few minutes though. In the meantime, I'll text you the address."

Deciding to leave the restaurant, he chose to call Morgan for back up, just in case Annie was in some kind of trouble. He was about 30 minutes from the address Garcia had given to him. He would wait for Morgan to arrive before he investigated.

* * *

Back at the warehouse, Annie remained in the fetal position for what seemed like days. Suddenly, she heard movement above her. Something was being moved over her. She thought for a moment that something was going to come through the roof on top of her. But she soon realized she must have been correct earlier. She was in a box. A box that had been laid on the ground around her and then objects put on top of it so she couldn't move it. She sat up the best she could, hunched over with her legs bent in front of her. Every muscle in her body protested at the movement, but she had a feeling she would need them awake soon. After several minutes of the scraping and sliding commotion, Annie sensed the walls moving around her.

Still unable to see or speak, Annie could only sit and listen. She heard the sound of more things moving in the distance. She felt surrounded by people, some of which were mumbling as if they too were bound and gagged. _There must be more victims here. _ Annie realized. Suddenly someone kicked her from her right.

"Stand up!" A young sounding man yelled at her. As Annie struggled to her feet, as she was turned slightly, presumable to face whomever was talking or looking at her. Annie kept her head down in an attempt to look unappealing. She was uncertain what was going on, but she knew it couldn't be good.

Annie heard other people being kicked and commanded to stand, turn, or move in a certain way. She heard crying and attempts at speaking from people around the room. By the sound of the low hum of failed mumbles, there were a lot of victims here.

Annie's mind was racing with questions. Her mind still felt slower than normal, presumably from the chemicals they had used to subdue her. But her mind was still sharp enough to gather clues as to what was happening. Someone or possibly multiple people were walking around the room talking about various people, which she assumed were also victims. Questions were asked and answered. As Annie listened closely, she discovered that victims ranged from male and female, and apparently could be categorized into two categories, those that would be sold for sex and those that would be sold for information. Those sold for sex were apparently considered exceptionally attractive. Those sold for intel were either in high power jobs or related to someone who was, such as lawyers, cops, and government agents. These people were sold to competing government agencies as informants. Annie honestly wasn't sure which category she would fall into for these people.

"She's prettier than a lot of the others. Are we sure she's not one of them?" Annie heard someone said close to her. He was definitely male and much older than the man that had kicked her. Her mind swirled with what he could have meant by "one of them". _Could these men be responsible for the CIA assets deaths? _She reasoned with herself.

"We saw her coming out of the FBI headquarters, but she's just a museum worker. Apparently she knew one of last month's victims. They just wanted to ask her some questions. She's nothing more than a desk clerk or something." The young man answered.

"Has anyone tried her yet?" The older man's voice asked sending chills up Annie's spine.

"No, no one here has touched her." The young man said. "She's been in the box for nearly six hours. She put up very little fight."

"Well, let's see how much fight she has in her. I think I might want to buy this one for my personal collection. Can I sample her first?" The older man said. Annie could still hear other people talking, but these two men were focused on her. She found it difficult to concentrate on everyone else.

"Of course, anything for my best customer." The young man replied. The man walked over to Annie and spoke into her ear, "I'm going to cut off the tape from your feet so this man can sample your goods, if you fight him, you will regret it."

Annie's mind began to race. She was about to be raped. All of her training told her to fight him off, but what would happen after that, would they kill her? Would they torture her? She didn't care at this point. The only thing she knew for sure was that she was going to fight with everything inside her. She wasn't going to be 'sampled' by anyone tonight.

She would pretend to the compliant though, until the last possible second. Until she had them convinced she wouldn't fight. She sensed someone coming near her. Someone pushed her back down to the ground and grabbed her legs. She felt the tape around her ankles being cut and then peeled away painfully. But she didn't make a sound.

"Oooh, this one is strong. She barely flinched when you removed the tape. All the others try to scream and cry." Annie heard the man say.

"Stand back up, hold your head up so he can look at you." The younger of the two men demanded in Annie's direction.

Annie did as she was told. She felt a shiver run up her spine as someone touched her face, moving it as if looking at her for imperfections. "What color are her eyes?" The older man asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Brown. They are big and beautiful. Just your type." The younger man answered sounding pleased with his find.

As Annie felt a man in front of her breathing smoke towards her, she held her head at an angle, listening to what was happening as she waited for the perfect moment to strike at him. There was no way she was going down without a fight.

**Author's Note: Please review.**


	6. To the Rescue

Chapter 6

"To the Rescue"

Reid was confused when he finally found the address that Garcia had given him. This was not the type of place Annie should be at. Furthermore, there was no sign of her or anyone else. Now he was grateful for calling Morgan. He had a bad feeling that he was going to need the backup.

Morgan was not too happy about Reid calling him. He had just settled in the hotel with room service in pajamas and was planning on watching a movie until he feel asleep. Of course, when Reid had explained everything he of course would go with him, but he'd be sure to give him crap about it if it turned out to be nothing.

"Pretty Boy, how do you know her phone just wasn't stolen or something?" Morgan asked once he arrived forty-five minutes after Reid called him.

"Morgan, I don't know that, but something is for sure not right. Can we just check it out?"

"Sure kid, but if it turns out to be nothing, you owe me a steak dinner."

"I sure hope it's nothing, but I just have a bad feeling Annie is in big trouble right now."

"You guys have some kind of twin-thing or something?"

"I don't know Morgan; I hadn't seen her for years until this week. Can we please just check out this warehouse and get out of here?"

"Man, you really don't like talking about your sister." Morgan stated, not questioned shaking his head.

* * *

Annie felt herself being pushed somewhere unknown. As the men lead her away from the group she began to fear she might not be able to prevent what was about to happen. She was blindfolded walking around in nothing but her underwear. Her hands were tied together with tape over her mouth so that she could not yell out for help. To make matters worse, there were two of them. While typically that would not be a problem for Annie, being unable to see or move around as freely as she normally would put her at a huge disadvantage.

The situation seemed quite hopeless. Nonetheless, she hoped she could fight them off before they raped her. They had her walk ten steps forward, and then they turned her left and walked another five steps. They stopped her and she assumed they unlocked a door because she heard keys rattle and the sound of a lock unlocking. Then they had her go into the room. She knew she had pasted through the door because the air changed around slightly as she did. She desperately wanted to fight them right here and now before they had a chance to go any further with their plan, but she wasn't sure how to even begin to fight them.

She stood there for a few minutes before anyone spoke. She felt very vulnerable and exposed right now. She had been in similar situations before, but never quite this hopeless.

As the man came closer to her, she heard the gentle thump of what she assumed to be his trousers hitting the floor. Annie simply stood there calmly pretending she was anywhere else, but where she was. He slowly pushed her backwards "Let's get you a little more comfortable." Taking a couple steps backward her foot hit something. _A mattress?_ she thought to herself. Before Annie knew what was happening, she was lying back on the mattress and the man was hoovering over top of her trying to pull her panties down.

Annie used this moment to her advantage. With her right leg, she thrust up into her assailant's groan as hard as she could. As he doubled over in pain, she took her still bound hands and pushed them into her attacker's back then kneed him. As he fell next to her she heard footsteps rushing towards her. She struggled to get to her feet and prepared to fight the other man in the room. Someone pushed her forward from behind, before she fell she kicked backward and felt satisfaction when she heard him groan. She caught herself with her hands before falling completely to the ground and stood back up listening carefully.

Suddenly, multiple hands were on her, pushing her to the ground.

"You stupid bitch. You're going to regret that." The young man said as he kicked her in the stomach. Annie doubled over and took another kick in the back, then a couple to the face. Annie once again tried to stand up, but was pushed back down onto her stomach. Suddenly she heard a commotion from somewhere outside the door she was in. She was lifted off the ground and thrown roughly back onto the mattress.

Trying to catch her breath, Annie rolled herself back over onto her back and prepared to fight again. Suddenly, Annie felt a heavy set man on top of her as he once again tried to remove her panties. His weight pinned her legs down as he used one hand to pin her still-bound hands above her head. She tried to scream hoping someone would hear her, but only muted sounds escaped through the tape. He fondled her breasts, kissed his way from her breasts, up her neck and over her face. She tried to fight him with everything that was in her, but he was a lot stronger than she was. His grip tightened around her hands and he put more weight on her legs.

"Yeah, baby, I like it when they fight." He said as he slapped her face twice, leaving it stinging and her nose bleeding. "Keep fighting." He whispered in her ear as he put even more pressure on her legs and hands.

There was the sound of running and the door opened. "Cops are here." A mysterious stranger said.

"This isn't over. Our fun has just been interrupted. I'll find you again." The man whispered in Annie's ear before she felt his weight lift off of her.

Laying there breathless, she was unsure what to do. Before she could think more on it she heard the door swing open again, this time hitting the wall.

"Stop, FBI." She heard a familiar voice yell as she heard someone running in the opposite direction the FBI agent's voice had come from. Next she heard a scuffle and then what sounded like handcuffs.

"Oh God, Morgan, its Annie." Annie heard Reid say at the back of the room as someone, she assumed one of her assailants, groaned. She brought herself into a sitting position on the mattress and covered herself the best she could with her legs and arms. Annie recoiled as suddenly a cloth was around her as something was being draped across her. "This will cover you a little for now." Morgan told her as he gently wrapped his jacket around her.

Annie tried to remain alert to her surroundings. She wanted to make sure she was not in danger any longer, but she was in a state of shock after what she had been through. She vaguely heard shouts and struggles coming from the other room and knew this meant back up was there rounding up other suspects.

"Take care of her; I'll get the other scumbag." Morgan told Reid before running to catch the younger man that had been in the room when they arrived.

"Annie, its Reid. I'm just going to remove this tape as carefully as I can. I'll try not to hurt you." Annie felt very exposed right now as her brother saw her as vulnerable as she had ever been: almost naked, bound, and beaten, but right now she was just glad someone had come to her rescue.

Reid took a knife from his pocket and began carefully slicing through the tape binding Annie's hands together. When her hands were free, he went behind Annie and began slowly cutting through the multiple layers of tape at the back of Annie's head, hoping to not cut her as he did. Annie sat very still, not wincing once, as he worked the tape from her hair and skin. Her mouth was freed first, but she said nothing as he continued to work on the much thicker tape covering her eyes.

"Just to warn you, it's a bit bright in here. Depending on how long you've been like this, it might take your eyes several minutes to adjust to light again." Reid told Annie, she nodded once to acknowledge she understood as he continued his work.

As the final bit of the tape was removed, Annie kept her eyes closed for a couple minutes, partially not wanting to be blinded by the bright light and also to not have to have a visual memory of her surroundings. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw Reid kneeling in front of her. All she could do was throw her arms around him and give him a hug. At first, he just accepted the hug, but soon gave in and wrapped his arms around her. "Hey, you're okay now. I've got you. What did they- Did they-" Reid couldn't bring himself to ask the question.

"Tha- Thank you Spencer." Annie finally managed to whisper.

"Annie, here are some clothes. We'll give you a moment to get them on before we leave." Morgan said coming back into the room with a young brown hair-brown eyed man. Annie assumed it was the man from earlier. "Reid, help me get these two to a car and we have about ten more that will be taken to the station as well."

"I don't want to leave her." Reid said looking at Morgan.

"Reid, give her a little space for a minute. At least let her get dressed." Morgan said calmly understanding the man's dilemma.

"We'll be right back." Reid told her as he looked at her, still covering herself with Morgan's jacket the best she could. She simply nodded, not trusting her voice.

**Reminder: Just like you would clap or boo for a concert you just sat through, please review my stories as you read them. I'm not above saying, I really do NEED to hear from you. Each review is like a chocolate bar rewarded to me for my hard work. This keeps me writing and encourages me. Do you think I deserve that reward?**


	7. Time & Space

**Author's Note: As always, I own nothing. Not Criminal Minds and its characters or Covert Affairs and it's characters. I DO however, desperately want to see Covert Affairs return. This will be the last chapter I post til at least the beginning of December. Next month I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNo). I have not yet decided if I will work on Fanfiction stories, an original story, or both for the event. My goal will just be to get 50,000 words on the page I think. But I may honestly focus on a new idea I got last week for a novel. I'm extremely excited about the idea. But I am not sure if it is a 50,000 word idea since I have not begun the actual writing of it yet. I do however have a notebook with six very full pages back and front FULL of ideas, notes, conversations, and so forth dedicated to the project. In addition to this, I have multiple "blurbs" for future Fanfiction chapters that could also be wrote down next month. Ultimately, it is my decision, but, what do you think?**

Chapter 7

"Time i&amp; Space"

Auggie was pacing the floor at his apartment. _One more hour_, he thought to himself. _That's all I'm giving her._

Annie had only called him once since arriving in Houston and she had promised to call him back once she got checked into the hotel. He had checked five times already, she had not checked in. Surely she wasn't still walking to the FBI agents. He checked his watch, almost 11pm her time. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

He went and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, hoping that by chance he could at least dull the worry for an hour before diving fully into panic mode at midnight, her time.

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"Reid." Morgan said looking over at his best friend sitting next to him. He could tell that he was miles away in his head though.

"Reid." Morgan again said his name. He knew that Reid was thinking about Annie. Thinking about what had happened to her. But right now, he needed Reid to focus on the here and now.

"Reid!" He heard Morgan say for the third time. He had heard it each time, but Reid couldn't bring himself to acknowledge Morgan. His thoughts were on the ambulance in front of them. He had not seen Annie in years and he had been angry with her. He had treated her unfairly. He had let his parent's problems get in between him and his siblings. Then just as he was making an attempt to try to fix things, this happened. He wasn't even completely sure what had happened. He just knew it was bad, really bad. He had seen her injuries, the bruises already starting to form on her stomach, chest, back, and face. He could only hope that there wasn't any internal injuries to go with the ones he could see. He was thankful that she didn't seem to have been sexually abused. Her assailants had tried he knew, but Annie had fought back. _Where did she learn to fight?_ Reid thought to himself

"Reid?" Morgan asked in a softer tone.

"Yes Morgan." He finally responded with an edge to his voice that Morgan had never heard before.

"Reid. I know this isn't easy on you. If you need to be taken off the case, just tell Hotch, he will understand.

"No, I'm fine. Or I will be. I just need to know how Annie is."

"Should we call someone?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know. Someone should be there for her. You mentioned a boyfriend or something. Did you notice the phone she was using while she was talking to him? Maybe we can get it for her and call him. We got all the victims personal items, right? Annie's is sure to be among them. We know what she was wearing when she left the FBI, unless she changed clothes before-" Reid's sentence cut off before he finished the full thought.

"You know, technically, you're her family. You can be the one there for her. You can receive her medical information." Morgan reminded Reid.

"I thought about that too, but I haven't talked to her for years before yesterday. It seems like an invasion of her privacy to do that. I'll be there for her, but I still think we should try to contact someone who really knows her."

"Okay Pretty Boy, whatever you say. As soon as we get to the hospital we'll talk to her to see who we should call.."

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Sitting on the couch with his beer in his hand and his phone on the table in front of him, he almost dropped the half-drank beer when the phone finally rang around 12:45am his time.

Grabbing the phone before it even announced who the caller was, he answered it immediately.

"Annie? Why on Earth haven't you called me before now! I've been-"

"Sir."

Auggie dropped the beer he was holding as he realized the voice on the phone was not Annie.

"Who is this?" Auggie growled into the phone. "Why do you have Annie's phone?"

"Sir, is this Auggie?"

"Yes. Who is this?" He spat back.

"Auggie, this is Derek Morgan with the FBI Behavior Analysis Unit. Annie gave me your name and we have someone who got us your number to call. I don't have time for pleasantries. She is at Houston Methodist Hospital. Do you have a way to get here?"

Auggie was speechless for a nanosecond and quickly responded "I'll be there in five hours or less." Then he promptly hung up the phone and called Joan.

"Joan, someone just called me from Texas. Annie is in the hospital." He said without a greeting her.

"Auggie, what happened? We haven't heard from her since she left FBI headquarters."

"I don't know Joan, but I'm sure as hell going to find out. Do you think the director would let me use the jet? There aren't any flights that leave in the next few hours. It can get me there the fastest." He lied, having not actually checked the flights, but also not wanting to waste time in an airport when Annie needed him.

"I'll find out, but it shouldn't be a problem. Do you want me to go with you?"

"That's up to you Joan, I'm going with or without you."

"Okay, I'll call you back."

Thirty minutes later, Auggie was waiting by the curb for her to pull up. Joan had called him back almost immediately and said she would be there within the half hour to take him to the airfield. Auggie had quickly packed a suitcase, called Barber to tell him he would not be at work the next few days, and prepared to leave.

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Annie ached all over. Having been bound for at least seven hours and then severely beaten had left her feeling sore and cranky. The doctor's had determined other than a couple pretty nasty skin irritation and bruises, two broken ribs, a few bad cuts, and some really sore muscles she was the picture of health. Annie was grateful to the FBI for coming to her rescue, but now she wondered how they had found her. Did they know she was CIA? Was it Auggie who had told them where to find her? How would he have known?

She sat up on the ordinary hospital bed, waiting for her discharge papers over five hours after being brought to the hospital. It had taken forever for her to be seen. But she assumed they had just had an influx of people brought in because of the raid. Annie wondered how many people had been held captive with her. It had sounded like a few dozen at least. Had they all endured similar treatment that she had? Of course, they were not trained CIA operatives-trained to deal with the pain of being tortured. If she felt this bad-she hated to think how a "normal" person might be feeling after such an ordeal.

A knock came at the door and Reid walked in. Annie was surprised to see him. She was surprised to see anyone in fact, she just assumed the FBI agents had went back to headquarters to continue working on their case.

She stared at him for a minute, unsure what to say and still not trusting her voice. She lowered her head when she remembered the last time she had saw him and he her. She had been almost naked as he removed her blindfold and gag.

"Ummm, how are you feeling?" Reid finally broke the silence.

"O-" she began hoarsely then cleared her throat to see if that might clear her voice a bit. "Okay, considering" she said much stronger than before.

"Listen, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Reid said bashfully looking at the floor. He knew this was awkward for her. He understood her embarrassment. He wasn't sure how to tell her it was okay. He didn't want to tell her that. It was not okay that she had been through this ordeal. It was not okay that the first time they are on speaking terms in years he is saving her from a horrific nightmare. None of this was okay, but he was glad he had been the one to have to see her this way. He was glad it wasn't another team member that had touched her in her most vulnerable state. He was glad he _could_ be the one to help her. He suddenly felt very protective of his sister.

"It's not your fault. Uh, thank you for coming. How did you find me?"

"GPS on your phone." He answered simply.

"Hmmm, I thought I had that turned off." She said. In fact she knew it was turned off because Auggie always controlled it from his workstation. They must have some masterful hacker working for them if they could undo Auggie's work.

"Yeah, well, we've got a girl. She can do some pretty amazing stuff with a computer." Reid said looking at Annie for the first time since he came in the room. Her face was red from where the doctor's had rubbed the skin free of adhesive that had been around her eyes and mouth, there were several visible bruises and he knew there were more under her clothes. Her lips were slightly swollen, no doubt from being hit a few times. Her arms hung weakly by her side. He knew they would be sore. She barely moved them as he watched her. Her hair was a mess and he knew she had not looked in a mirror since arriving at the hospital. But, under all the pain he knew she was feeling, there was a confident woman. She held herself with the posture of a business woman.

"I'm sorry about missing dinner last night." Annie said breaking the awkward silence.

Reid walked further into the room and brought a chair over close to the bed. "It's okay. I'll admit, I was pretty mad, until I found out why you weren't there. Have they given you anything to eat since you've been here?"

"No, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning." She only realized as he brought it up. She had planned to get a late lunch after her interview at the FBI once she got to the hotel, but she had not made it there. Of course, her captors had not given her food or water."

"How long were you – I mean, when did—" Reid stammered not sure how to ask the question.

"They used a pregnant woman needing help rouse to capture me. I guess that was around 1:30 or 2 yesterday afternoon. They knocked me out with something. When I woke up, I'm sure hours later, my arms and legs were bound together in front of me, I was blindfolded and gaged. I think they had placed a small box or something over me so I couldn't leave. I had about three square feet of floor space to move in. It was cramped, dark, and ultimately complete torture. I've never felt so helpless. But once they released the bonds on my hands and legs, I was at least able to fight back, which was a big mistake on their part." Annie gave a detail account of what had happened without once looking up at Reid. She understood that he needed to get information from her about what had happened for the investigation. She was grateful it was him doing it and not someone else. Right now it felt like she was just talking to her brother, not an FBI agent.

"We got to you around 9:30 or so. Did he man, ummm, I mean. Were you—" Again Reid was at a loss for how to ask the question. This was not just some victim. This was his sister. And while he knew they had to have these answers, it was hard being the one asking the questions when you knew the person answering. Hotch had said any of the team could do it. But Reid had insisted it be him.

Annie just shook her head. Trying to hold back the tears that formed behind her eyes as she thought about just how close she had come to being raped. A mere minute or two more and it would have no doubt happened. Chills ran up her spine as Reid put his hand on her shoulder causing her to flinch. "Sorry." She said softly.

"It's okay Annie. You may not have been raped, but you were in the position that it could have happened. I'm glad we got there when we did." Reid said removing his hand from her shoulder. He was very glad he had got there when he did. He knew he would never get the image out of his head of his sister being hovered over as if she were some kind of meat for her attacker to enjoy.

"Morgan went to go pick up your friend from the airport. He should be back soon."

The thought of Auggie coming brought a smile to her face. She felt a twinge of guilt for not thinking about calling him herself since Derek had asked if they should call anyone. He was always the first person she thought of when she was in trouble, but this time, he had not been able to help her. He had no way of contacting her or knowing she was in trouble. No doubt he knew she was MIA and had probably blown her phone up with multiple messages and calls, but she was not sure where her phone was at the moment.

"Thank you." Was all she could say in response as she resigned herself to the fact that her discharge papers were not coming anytime soon and leaned against the pillows on the bed.

WWWRenewCovertAffairsCOM-WWWRenewCovertAffairsCOM-WWWRenewCovertAffairsCOM-WWWRenewCovertAffairsCOM-WWWRenewCovertAffairsCOM

Morgan got to the airport quickly and went directly to the airfield. He had been told the man he was looking for would be taking a private jet to meet him. He wasn't exactly sure who he was meeting, but Garcia had done a little digging for him. According to her research, Auggie Anderson was a hacker extraordinar who wrote "that most beautiful codes that made her toes curl". Morgan had stopped listening at that point as she went into tech speak.

As he wait for the plane doors to open he tried to imagine what kind of techno nerd was about to get off this plane. When he saw Auggie come into the doorway of the plane, he was impressed with his dark jeans and button down shirt. He was even more flabbergasted when the man took something from his bag and opened it to reveal a white cane. The kind that would only identify him as blind. _Is this the right guy?_ Morgan thought to himself immediately taking his phone out to text Garcia.

:Is this Auggie guy blind? -M

:Yes. Didn't you listen to what I said earlier? -G

:I guess not close enough. -M

:You should pay better attention when I talk. I say important things. -G

:I know Baby Girl. Sorry. I'll make it up to you. –M

:Oh, yes you will. -G

Auggie took a few steps from the plane after descending the stairs and waited. He had no way of knowing if the person he was meeting was there or not. He had no choice, but to wait for them to acknowledge themselves. That would have been one reason to have Joan along. Avoiding some of the awkwardness his blindness frequently caused.

Morgan realized as he watched the man stop and stand in one spot for several minutes that he would need to let the man know he was there.

"Auggie Anderson?" Morgan called over in the direction Auggie stood.

"That's me." Auggie said, sweeping his cane in front of his as he walked in the direction of the voice.

"Derek Morgan." Morgan said as he put his hand out to Auggie as he approached him.

"You didn't know I was blind." Auggie said matter-of-factly.

"Well, no." Morgan chuckled putting his hand back down. "Sorry man, I didn't know. How does this work?"

"If by this you mean, how do we interact? We interact just like everyone else, except I can't see you, so a few simple adjustments need to be made. Such as a simple hand touch if you want to be my guide or need me to take something, verbal cues of changes in terrain, and know that I probably won't make perfect eye contact with you as we talk." Auggie smiled.

"The car is about ten feet to our left." Morgan said as he timidly touched his left hand to Auggie's right. Auggie proceeded to attach himself to Morgan's arm.

"Just walk at your normal pace and I will follow a half a step behind you." Auggie told Derek as he set his cane into motion as they began walking.

The two made it to the car with very little problem. Once they were both in the car and buckled Auggie asked the question he had wanted to ask the moment he got off the plane.

"What happened to Annie?"

**Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you that take time to leave a review. It truly means more to me than I can say.**


	8. Awkward Acquaintances

**Author's note: Greetings friends! I'm back and I'm writing again! It's been a while since I wrote anything with my fanfiction, but I hope it works for everyone. Here is the latest chapter for this story. It's been a long time coming and I've reworked it several times. I hope it meets everyone's expectations! Reviews are welcome and appreciated as always.**

Chapter Eight

"Awkward Acquaintances"

Auggie and Morgan arrived at the hospital. Auggie impatiently waited for an elevator to come as he stood beside Derek Morgan. As the elevator doors opened, Auggie stepped forward; with his hand outstretched slightly to be sure he was indeed was entering the elevator.

"She looks pretty beat up," Morgan warned him as they stood together in the elevator, just as he realized what she looked like would not matter to him.

"Umm, the doctor said she'll be fine, no permanent physical damage. She'll be pretty sore for the next few days. Nothing is broken, but there are quite a few bruises and scratches. They had her eyes covered with duct tape and her hands and feet taped up as well. As a result, she has some raw skin patches on her ankles, wrists, and face that'll most likely be sensitive to the touch," he explained further.

"Just take me to her," Auggie said through gritted teeth, trying to be patient with him. He knew Morgan was trying to help him, but not immediately knowing about Auggie's blindness seemed to have thrown him off his game.

As they reached the eighth floor, Auggie swung his cane to make sure the path was clear as he exited the elevator. He stood still for a moment after he exited, unsure of which way to go from there. Derek, realizing Auggie needed help, offered him a lead, using the same method he had learned earlier to alert Auggie to where he was.

"We're going right, then through doors straight ahead and Annie's room is the second door after we take another left." Morgan explained where they were going, hoping he was telling Auggie the way he should.

"Thank you," Auggie said as they walked through the corridors of the unfamiliar hospital with a man he wasn't comfortable with at all.

"She's in room 826. I won't come in with you just now; it is a private room, so she should be the only one there. She was waiting on discharge paperwork last I heard, but I texted Reid on the way here and he said she hadn't left yet," Derek told Auggie.

"It takes forever for them to process paperwork in hospitals." Auggie grumbled as Derek stopped them. "Why has she been left alone?" Auggie asked as Derek placed his hand on a door handle.

"We've had other victims to speak with as well as Annie. We're just doing our job here. Annie is a lot stronger than the others and did not want us sitting around her," Derek answered. "I'll leave you to be with her."

As Auggie heard Derek's retreating footsteps he turned the knob. Auggie entered the unfamiliar room, hoping he didn't knock anything over.

"Annie?" He whispered, uncertain if she was awake or asleep.

When no answer came, he walked further into the room, gently swinging his cane as he went. As he discovered the location of the bed, he found Annie's leg. He wasn't sure where she might be injured; therefore he gently ghosted his hand along her body until he was closer to her head. Gently exploring the bed's surface, he reached her hand and simply held it until she moved her hand out of his.

"Auggie?" Annie's hoarse voice whispered as his blurry form came into view as she opened her eyes. "Oh Auggie!" She cried aloud, much stronger than before as realization came over her that she was not in fact dreaming as she thought at first.

"Annie," he stated simply, relieved to hear her voice at last.

"Auggie, thank you for coming. You know, you didn't have to come all the way to Texas to check up on me, I'll be back in D.C. soon." she said tapping his hand with hers to let him know it was okay to take it again.

"Of course, I had to come, Walker. You scared the hell out of me when I didn't hear from you. Than when the FBI called, well, I got here as fast as the CIA's jet could get me here. What on earth happened?" he asked as he took her offered hand.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," she said in a soft voice that made Auggie want to just hold her.

"Okay. I'm here when you're ready to talk about it," he told her still holding her hand, but making sure to do so gingerly as her hand felt weaker to him than usual.

"There's a chair about five paces to your left against the wall if you want to bring it over and sit down. You look tired." She told him, shocking him. Even after what she'd been through, she as still looking out for him and his needs.

"I'm fine, Annie. You're the one lying in a hospital bed and you're concerned about me?" he said with a smirk. But he followed her directions and carefully brought the chair over towards the bed. Folding his cane, he sat it behind him before he sat down and found her hand again.

"Auggie, it was awful," she began after several minutes of peaceful quiet between them. Auggie could hear the emotion behind her words. He continued to hold her hand for support, he felt the rough patches on her wrist that Derek had mentioned and he was careful not to put too much pressure on them. For now, he thought it best if he said nothing. She needed to do this in her own time.

"There's been more than one time I thought I might die in the field, but this was different. It felt like it all had nothing to do with me being CIA. I don't think they knew anything about me being CIA. At least they didn't give any indication of knowing I was if they did. I was kidnapped, attached, and almost raped because I'm a woman. I've never felt so vulnerable," She told him clearly holding back sods.

Annie immediately saw the concern on Auggie's face. He gently held her hand, barely moving his own hand in hers at all. She knew he was treating her differently now. Normally his whole hand would be covering hers, if not both hands around hers. By now, he could have put his hand on her shoulder. But now, he was treating her delicately. He'd never done that before.

"Annie, these men that took you, were they involved in the case the FBI was investigating?" Auggie asked seriously after sitting in thought for a few minutes.

"Yes, but I didn't know that for sure until after I was rescued. I suspected they might be, but I had no proof while I was there," Annie told him.

"Did they know?" He asked with an edge to his voice that Annie couldn't quite place.

"Did who know what?" Annie tilted her head to the side trying to figure out Auggie's meaning.

"Did the FBI know where they were? Did they use you as bait to catch these guys since you knew two of their previous victims?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Seeing Auggie's expression concerned Annie quite a bit. He was making huge assumptions that simply couldn't be true.

"God, no, Auggie," she said a little too quickly for Auggie's taste. The truth was she wasn't absolutely sure that wasn't the case. The thought had crossed her mind as she'd laid naked on the cold floor of the warehouse. However, she didn't think it was possible, especially since her twin brother was among the FBI agents in question. But she knew it was an awfully big coincidence if it weren't the case that they set her up.

"Are you sure? I'm just supposed to believe that one of the top operatives in the CIA is called down as a "witness" on one of their cases and then she just happens to find herself kidnapped by the very same criminals said FBI agents are trying to find?" he had been suspicious of the circumstances of Annie going missing the moment he realized she was gone.

"Auggie, I honestly don't know. I really don't think they work like that. I mean, maybe if they were going to prep me or something to go undercover. It had to be a coincidence. Auggie, my twin brother is a member of that team. We may not be the closest, but you didn't see his face when they found me. He was completely surprised to see me there. He was modified to see me in such a vulnerable position. There's no way he was part of planning that." Annie told him, although she was still uncertain herself. She didn't think he could be right, but at the same time, she had to admit, it seemed a little too coincidental to be accidental.

As if on cue, the door of Annie's hospital room opened.

Auggie tensed immediately and stood up, not releasing his gentle grip on Annie's hand. Not knowing who had come into the room and was now standing to his right, he felt unsure of himself. He hated being in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people. Usually people who knew him announced their presence.

"Annie, how are you feeling?" An unfamiliar voice spoke to Annie, seemingly ignoring Auggie altogether.

"Well, Bro, I've definitely seen better days," she said quietly, discreetly letting Auggie know who had spoken. "Any word on when I'm getting out of here? The doctors said they were working on my paperwork hours ago."

"Oh, they didn't tell you? They want to keep you over night, just to make sure there are no internal injuries. You took quite a beating, Annie," Reid told her, speaking from Auggie's right.

"Yeah, I know what type of beating I took. I was kinda there. I guess I fell asleep, while I was waiting. Did you get any information from the guys you arrested?" she asked someone to the left of the bed.

Auggie was annoyed as he was trying to follow the conversation between the undisclosed number of people in the room. He now knew Annie's brother was in the room, but who else might be present? He'd thought he only heard one set of footsteps come into the room, but he must have been mistaken.

"Reid and I haven't been able to speak with the rest of the team yet. After picking up Auggie, I came straight here with him and haven't left. You're safe now Annie. You don't have to worry about that," Morgan told her. Auggie was briefly relieved to at least recognize the voice of at least one of the people who had come into the room. He hoped there weren't any other surprise visitors that hadn't spoken yet. Annie's brother and Morgan were enough.

Auggie stood awkwardly still holding Annie's hand. He wasn't sure if the other people in the room had sat down or anything. Right now, he just wanted as many details about the FBI's case as possible and more importantly he wanted to know Annie's involvement in it.

"Annie, we know you've been through a lot today, but do you think you might be up for some questions about what happened? If you're tired we can do it tomorrow," Morgan asked.

"Trust me guys, I can handle your little questions," Annie said smugly with a smile on her lips.

Morgan and Reid looked at one another a bit confused by her confidence. Annie looked at them, then to Auggie.

"Should we tell them?" Auggie asked Annie knowingly.

"Tell us what?" Morgan asked curious.

"You guys are the FBI, you really don't know that she doesn't just work for the Smithsonian?" He asked no one in particular, but already could tell they didn't know she worked for the CIA. "I thought you guys were good at reading people or something. I can't believe you guys haven't figured it out. Perhaps we should just leave you to profile it or whatever you call it," He said in a mocking tone.

"Well, you've built it up now, and I had already planned on telling Reid over dinner last night," Annie replied.

"I guess we could just tell them," Auggie faux whispered in her general direction with a grin on his face, releasing her hand for the first time since he arrived.

"We're CIA." Auggie said still looking in Annie's direction.

"No, you're not." Reid stated more as a shocked statement than a denial.

"Sorry, bro. Afraid it's true. I've been with the CIA for two years. I'm one of their linguists as well as a field operative. Auggie is my handler and head of tech ops," Annie chimed in, answering his statement.

"Annie, I didn't see that coming. How are you a linguist for the CIA? Don't they require you to be fluent in at least four languages for that?" Reid asked more than a bit stunned.

"Little bro, you're not the only genius in the family. I know seven languages fluently and six others enough to get by. With all that travelling around with dad in the army as a kid, languages just came naturally to me, I guess," She told him confidently.

"Wow, I had no idea." Reid said "I guess there's a lot we don't know about each other after so many years apart," He added.

"So, in answer to your previous question, I'm trained to be able to withstand torture and I know the details you need to know. I'll do my best to answer any and all question you have. I'll admit though, this felt a lot different than what I've been through for the CIA." She told them taking a breath to collect her thoughts.

"Take all the time you need." Reid told her.

"The man who first got my attention saying he needed help had black hair, dark brown eyes, and a scar under his left eye. He was a little taller than me, but not quite six foot. I never saw any of the men at the warehouse, so I don't know if he was among those you arrested. The woman looked like she was eight or nine months pregnant, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She was about 5'3" tall. But the whole pregnancy thing would probably have been a ruse, I don't know for sure. As I was helping the women into the back seat, the man pushed me into a white minivan. It had four doors. I don't remember seeing a make or model or any specific unique qualities about it. The man held a rag over my mouth for several minutes so I'm assuming they used chloroform to knock me out and then used another drug to keep me sedated while they bound me. I remember the needle going in my arm as the rag was over my mouth. I fought pretty hard before I went under, so there might be some DNA evidence under my fingernails. When I woke up, my hands and feet were each taped together with some very tape and there was also a rather thick layer of tape covering my mouth and eyes as well. I don't know for sure how, but when I came to, I seemed to be covered by a large wooden box, like a toy box a child might have. I only know for sure that I couldn't move more than a few inches in any direction without meeting the barrier. I don't know how long I was awake under the box, once it was removed, one of the men said something about me being under it for six hours, let me tell you, based on how sore I am, it seemed like days." She stopped then and looked at Auggie. She didn't know how he lived life in the dark day after day. She'd only been unable to see a few hours; he lived that way every day. As she looked at him now, with his head tilted slightly to the side as he listened to her, she could tell her was deep in thought, taking in every word she said.

She took a deep breath and continued, "After the box was removed from above us, myself and the other victims, we were commanded to stand up. I stood up the best I could as soon as they told me to, but others didn't. It was hard to keep my balance bound as I was, but I seemed to have a better go at it than others did. They were hit and kicked until they submitted to whatever our captors wanted us to do. I only ever heard two of them clearly, but I think there were others telling the other victims what to do. I was somehow special to them. I don't know why. But I was singled out and taken to another room for one of the "customers" to try. He was going to rape me. He would have if these guys hadn't got there when they did. I had tried to fight them off, but I was limited to what I could do with my hands bound and my eyes covered. You guys know the rest. Once you got there they tried to flee, but the older man promised to come back for me," at this last sentence, Annie was surprised when she noticed her cheeks wet from tears that had been falling as she told her story. As she wiped the tears, she winced as the salty moisture grazed a sensitive area on her face.

"Annie, no one is coming back for you," Morgan said firmly.

"I know." She said uncharacteristically quiet. Auggie reached for the bed then and found her hand, squeezing it gently.

"Annie, you've helped out a lot. We weren't sure if we were able to catch all of the front runners for the operation or not. The two who were with you are in custody with several others we believe to be in on it, but we need an idea of how many more there might be. Is there anything else you can tell us about who was there?" Reid asked.

"I didn't see anything guys. I wish I could help more, but I just don't know what else I can tell you." Annie told them trying to be strong for them.

"Annie, we can help you remember if you want. You may not have seen anything, but I'm sure you know that seeing isn't everything." Reid told her. She knew he was eluding to Auggie then. Of course, she knew a person could tell a lot about their surroundings even if they couldn't see. Auggie was amazing her constantly with his skills of perceptions, despite his blindness. But hadn't she told them everything? Wasn't it enough?

"We can help you remember if you'd like us to try to help," Morgan told her.

"I think she's told you enough," Auggie said, sensing Annie's frustration.

"It's okay Auggie. Sure, I'll give it a try. What do you need me to do?" Annie asked.

"First," Reid began "lay back and relax. Now just close your eyes and take us back to when you first got out of the cab at the hotel." Reid continued in a soft calm tone. He continued with the same monotones taking Annie back through the experience again. Auggie thought it was ridiculous making her go through the ordeal yet again, but he stayed quiet. Continuing to hold her hand, he took in the details of Annie's story once again.

There were very few additional details added to Annie's story this second go around that had not been in the first, but Auggie had to admit, Reid's methods did work. Annie had been much calmer the second go around than it had been the first time. He could only hope that time would heal her emotional wounds as well as it would heal her physical wounds.


End file.
